Win Some, Lose Some
by FlailFail
Summary: After Wanda's rebirth in Pet's body, love and life go on in ways that none of the cave-dwellers could ever imagine. Hearts will be broken, bonds will be formed, the community will grow. Who knows, maybe the wild humans will even win their world back?
1. Elated

**Disclaimer: I am NOT Stephanie Meyer, just attempting to walk a mile in her shoes. :]**

**This story is going to be told from several points of view, changing each chapter. It's won't be a huge guessing game or anything, but just a little something to keep things interesting. And sorry for the short and probably boring preamble below, but it had to be done in order to get this ball rolling. It's not a very original idea, I know, but I promise you that if you stick with this, there will definitely be some surprises that you didn't see coming. Stay tuned for the next chapter, which I'm hoping will be a lot better than this one. Please rate and review!**

I sighed as I carried pillows down the eastern tunnel, flanked on either side by the O'Shea brothers, both of which were shouldering bulky cots. It had been a year, but I had never ceased to be frustrated by the physical limits this body provided for me.

But in the time since my rebirth into Pet's body, I had developed firm muscles underneath this soft, velvety skin. However, Ian continued to insist that I be given the lightest load possible, despite my protests. Still, I suppose he had a good reason for it.

A few months after the rains had stopped, I had started to get queasy really easy – a smell or even a simple movement could trigger my nausea. Ian had worried incessantly, but Mel had known right away what was the matter with me.

She had taken me to my room, gingerly pushing me down onto the mattress and then sitting beside me. She had turned and looked me in the eye, and in five words, had turned my world upside down.

"Wanda, I think you're pregnant." It was so obvious, I had wondered how I hadn't thought of it before. My clothes had been getting tighter, especially in the middle, but I had thought that it was just my frame filling out. But when I had pulled my shirt up, there was a clearly defined bump.

I had been overjoyed, of course, but was hesitant to tell Ian about the baby. Melanie had been excited too, and had told me that it had to be done sooner or later, and it was best to tell him before he found out some other way.

But I hadn't been prepared for his reaction when I had broken the news to him a couple days later. He had held me close to him, more gently than before, if that was even possible.

"How do you feel about it?" he had whispered into my ear. I had pulled back, trying to get a good look at his face. He wasn't supposed to try into consideration _my_ feelings; he was just supposed to concentrate on his own. I had expected anger, frustration, sadness, anything but this, this tenderness.

"I – I want it, more than anything," I'd managed to stammer. After all, it was a piece of my Ian, a product of our love. How could I have not wanted it? And besides, I don't think I could have aborted it; I didn't have the strength to kill anything, much less my own child.

"Then I want it too," he had said, planting a chaste kiss on my lips. "More than anything." His breath had washed over my face, and I had stretched up to on my toes to bring my lips to his, kissing him a lot less platonically than he had kissed me.

In the months that followed, my belly had ballooned outwards to the point where I could no longer see my feet, and my appetite grew proportionately until my serving began to be called the Wanda helping instead of the Kyle helping. More than that, I had strange cravings, like pancakes in the middle of the night, or steak in the morning, which was completely impractical in a place like this. In addition, my workload was slowly diminished to baking – even doing dishes and laundry were out of the question because everyone thought I would fall into the river, my balance was so impaired.

And then had come the first kick. I had been eating dinner when I had felt the blow to my abdomen, from the_ inside_. I had cried out in surprise, spewing half-chewed food all over the countertop, my hand flying to my stomach. There had been little flutterings before – a very strange sensation, I might add – but nothing this vocal, if that was the word for it. It hadn't hurt a bit, but it had definitely startled me, along with my dining partners.

I had received curious and even concerned looks from everyone, but smiles had broken across their faces when I had told them what was wrong. "The baby," I had explained, hearing the wonder in my own voice, "it kicked me."

Ian had smiled back. "Where? Can I feel?" I had nodded, taking his wrist and placing his large hand on my round belly, and sure enough, the baby had kicked again, right in the same place. "Did you feel that?" I had asked, but he shook his head, frowning, and had gone back to eating. But as my pregnancy progressed, he and others were able to feel the baby's movements.

The babble of overlapping voices and a banging sound quite close to me brought me back to the present. Ian and Kyle were setting up the cots, and then pushed them together so they created a bed large enough for two. Then Kyle disappeared into the crowd of people – to go find Sunny, I presumed.

I set two of the pillows down on the makeshift bed, and then handed the rest to Mel and Jared who had set up a bed just like ours. Mel flashed a smile at me before settling down on the bed beside her partner.

Just then a voice called out over the others. "All right, everybody! Shut yer traps so I can get some shut-eye."

Everybody obeyed Jeb without question, but it took a while for the voices to die down. One by one the lanterns flicked off, until there were no more circles of blue light on the ceiling. The darkness was complete – I couldn't even see my hand if I put it an inch from my face.

I almost screamed when I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist, just under the bulge of my stomach. "Hey, relax, Wanda. It's just me," Ian laughed in my ear.

"Ian!" I scolded him, slapping him playfully. "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He chuckled and backed us up until the back of his legs hit the bed, at which point they folded so that I was sitting on his lap.

"How do you feel?" he asked, and I knew immediately what he was referring to. My due date was right around the corner and any day now the baby would be born.

"I feel fine, Ian," I told him comfortingly. He scooted backwards, kicking off his shoes and laid down on his side, one arm pillowing his head underneath his pillow. The other tugged me along until I was curled up beside him, my back against his warm stomach.

"Good night, Wanda," he murmured, yawning, his chin touching the top of my head for a moment.

"Good night," I replied, closing my eyes and welcoming the oblivion that was the same color as the room.


	2. Welcomed

**Sorry for the long wait, guys. I had some computer problems, and then I wanted to make sure this chapter was just perfect, so I didn't want to rush things. So I hope you like it! Oh, and one more teensy little thing - I need a soul name! So if you could review with a suggestion, preferably from the Singing World, I would really appreciate it! And also, I, unfortunately, do not own the Host.**

I was standing in the middle of the caves, and all around me rocks were falling, separating me from the ones I loved. It was absent of all sound, just wordless shrieks as one by one everyone disappeared. It felt as if the world were shaking apart . . .

My eyes flew open, my breath ragged, and I wondered why it was so dark. Then I remembered where I was, and that there was no starlight in this cavern, only in the one I shared with my love. I also wondered why I was still shaking, but then I noticed the warm hand on my arm.

"Ian!" A disembodied voice stage-whispered to me from somewhere above me.

"Wanda? What are you doing up?"

"Ian, it – " Her breath caught then, and I swiftly sat up and felt around for the lantern on the floor beside me.

"Wanda, what's wrong?" I asked, as I flicked the light on and set it on the bed between us. It illuminated us from below, its eerie blue light casting strange shadows on her face, making her seem alien. I would've laughed at the ironic thought, but her features were contorted into an unmistakable expression of pain. Oh, no. It was the baby.

Without a word I scooped her up, hooking one arm under her knees, noticing how wet her sweats were, and the other around her neck so that her head was cradled. I grabbed the lantern with my left hand and began winding my way around all the cots towards the tunnel on the far side of the room.

I picked up the pace once we were in the passageway so that by the time we burst into the bright moonlight of the main cavern I was almost at a dead sprint.

As I ran down the southern tunnel, I felt Wanda relax, who until that point had been curled up in a ball against my chest. "It's over now, Ian. I'm fine." Her voice was breathless, and I felt her lift a hand to cup my face. I leaned into it, my eyes threatening to close.

"No, we're going to see Doc, just to make sure." She didn't argue, not that she had time to anyway, because that was when we hurtled into the room.

Doc looked up, obviously surprised. He was still packing up all of his medical supplies so that the rain didn't ruin them. His expression changed from one of astonishment to one of concern as soon as he registered who we were. There could only be one reason we were here. "It's starting?"

I nodded, setting Wanda down gently on one of the cots. He walked swiftly over. "On a scale from one to ten, how bad is your pain? One being how you feel normally, and ten being … ten being so bad that you want to die."

"Like when Mel fell down that open elevator shaft?" she whispered, and I could hear the pain in her voice, but I didn't know whether it was because of the upsetting memory, or because another contraction was coming on. "Well, I guess around a four or five."

Doc frowned. "Well then, I'm afraid I can't do anything for you yet. You'll just have to ride it out. You can walk around, that should help. And then come back when it gets to be around a seven or eight."

"Okay," Wanda replied, moving her legs so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed. She paused as if to rest before heaving herself to her feet, and swayed on the spot there for a moment. I grabbed her elbow to steady her, and she smiled up at me, but then her mouth twisted into a grimace and she hunched over.

"Wanda!"

"Let's walk," she gasped, staggering forward a few steps. I followed behind, not releasing my grip on her arm, shooting a desperate glance behind me at Doc. He returned the look, seeming truly sorry that there was nothing he could do at that moment.

We paced the southern tunnel for what seemed like eternity, but in reality it was probably only a couple of hours, just long enough for the light in the main cavern to change from silver to the gray of dawn. During that time the contractions started to come closer and closer together, not to mention longer and more painful. But still, Wanda refused to go back to the hospital.

Just as we turned our backs on the cornstalks for what felt like the millionth time, her face went white and, despite her efforts, a scream of pure agony broke through her lips. She nearly collapsed, but I held her up.

Still supporting most of her weight, we walked briskly down the passageway towards Doc's, until we heard a set of fast footsteps echo behind us, growing louder as they approached.

We both turned around to see Mel running up to meet us. "Sound carries in these caves," was all she said. Hadn't Wanda said something to that effect that night that I'd finally confessed my love for her? I wondered if Melanie's choice of words was coincidental or intentional.

Wanda smiled wearily at her best friend, and the three of us walked into the hospital together. Doc had set up everything while we were gone, and he looked up from the book he was reading. "Oh, good. About time."

He picked something up from one of cots and handed it to Wanda – a cloth gown, the kind they make you wear when you go for a checkup. Mel helped Wanda into it, and then Doc motioned for Wanda to lie down on the middle cot. I sat down on the cot to the right and Mel on the cot to the left, each of us clasping one of her hands.

Doc placed half a square of No Pain on Wanda's tongue. "That should help to dull the pain a bit," he said as he screwed the top back onto the bottle. "I don't want to take it away completely, because you need to be able to feel it in order to push with it."

I watched as, miraculously, her face smoothed out, the pain melting away. "Thanks, that's much better," she told the doctor, relaxing back against the pile of pillows that kept her in a sitting position.

Wanda closed her eyes. "You guys don't have to stay and watch this."

Mel snorted. "You aren't getting rid of me _that_ easily."

"Ditto," I said, kissing her on the cheek, "I'm not going anywhere."

"Fine," she said, her lower lip sticking out into a pout, but her gray-silver eyes were twinkling, and I knew she was just playing.

But over the next hour, which passed dreadfully slow despite Mel's attempts at a pleasant conversation, her tired smile returned to a grimace of pain. As each contraction hit her, her hands clamped down on mine with a force that I hadn't known she was capable of. Of course she apologized incessantly once she could speak again, but Mel and I stumbled over each other in our haste to reassure that it was alright, we understood, it didn't hurt. The last one was a lie though; I was sure I would have bruises after this was all done with. That pain was insignificant compared to the agony of seeing her hurt.

I was starting to doubt that this hell would ever be over when Doc spoke up at last from his end of the cot, instructing Wanda to push. She looked at him, bewildered. "But - but how?" she stammered, seizing up as the pain washed through her again.

"It's instinctual, Wanda," he encouraged. "It'll make you feel better, I promise. Now push."

She shot an uneasy glance at me, but did as he said. She leaned forward, eyes squeezed shut, each muscle in her body straining towards her goal.

"Good, good," Doc praised her. "You can relax now."

It went on like that for a while, and as time wore on, I felt more in awe of Wanda's strength than I ever had before. Her hair was plastered to her face with sweat, and she was operating on less than four hours of sleep, but she kept at it, determinedly tensing her muscles from her jaw to her toes with every contraction.

It was as if we'd switched roles – Wanda being the one to take the brunt of the work while all I could do was look on helplessly, my only occupation being to let her abuse my hands as an outlet of her pain. I'd never felt so useless in my life, and I vowed that I would never refuse Wanda a chance to do her part for the community again.

"The baby's crowning!" Doc exclaimed, freeing me finally from this torture. My head whipped to the right to look at the man and out of the corner of my eye I saw Mel wipe Wanda's forehead with a cool, wet cloth as she fell back against the pillows, clearly exhausted.

"Alright, Wanda. This is the big one. After this it's all over. Now push!" the doctor urged, and I squeezed her hand, locking eyes with her.

"You can do this, I know you can." She gave me a grim look, and then took a deep breath. And then, with one last Herculean effort, it was all over.

A wail pierced the air, the shrill cry catching me off guard. I stood up, took a small step towards Doc, but something tugged at my arm, preventing me from going further. I looked down and saw that our fingers were still intertwined. Wanda's eyes opened and she gave me a tired smile before letting go of my hand.

With one last look at Wanda, I walked to the end of the cot, my forehead creased with worry. Was something wrong? Was it normal for a newborn to cry so ardently and endlessly? My gaze dropped from Doc's face to the little thing in his arms. Not a thing. My _child_.

"Would you like to have the honor?" Doc asked, extending a pair of sharp-looking scissors to me. I stood there dumbfounded for a moment before I grasped what he meant – he wanted me to cut the umbilical cord. As if in a dream, I stepped forward and snipped it as close to its belly as I could, and then Doc wrapped it up in its swaddling clothes and handed it to me.

At my touch, it stopped crying, only mewling every few seconds, its tiny chest rising and falling at a tremendous rate. I had no idea how to hold it, but, going on instinct, I placed one hand under its head and the other under its back, my wrist and forearm supporting its lower half. "It's a girl, right?" I asked the doctor, hearing the wonder in my own voice as I took in the sight of my baby. I just _knew_ that it was my daughter. I raked her in ravenously – rosy cheeks, glinting cobalt eyes, soft downy wisps of golden hair. I swore right then and there that I would do my absolute best to do right by her, to protect her from the evils of the world, and to love her no matter what. She was my little girl, and even though the idea of being a father was blowing my mind right now, of these things I was certain.

As if in slow motion I carried her over to the top of the bed, and presented her to Wanda, who held out her arms for the infant. Holding the infant close to her chest, she looked down on her with awe and unconditional love, and I realized that that was, in all probability, quite similar to my own expression. Wanda murmured sweet nothings in her ear as she breastfed her, silencing her whimpers.

Looking across the bed, I saw that Mel's eyes were transfixed on the baby too. Seeming to sense my gaze, she looked up at me. "You are one lucky man, Ian," she said at last.

"I know," I said, looking down once more at the two people I could not live without.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Doc chimed in.

That was when Wanda joined the conversation, having finished breastfeeding the baby, who was now sleeping peacefully in her arms. "What about Madelaine?" I had told her about my sister who had died, along with our mother, in a tragic car accident. Kyle and myself had been spared because we were in the backseat, although that was the first time Kyle had broken his nose.

I was touched that she would think of naming our daughter in Madi's memory. "It's perfect," I told her, planting a kiss on the newly christened infant before doing the same on Wanda's lips.

"Jeez, get a room," a voice joked from the doorway, and Jared soon strode into my peripheral vision. "Congrats, O'Shea," he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder before walking around to the other side of the cot and taking Mel's hand. She smiled up at him.

"Um, Mel? Jared? I was wondering … " Wanda trailed off, sounding unsure of herself, but she continued anyway. "_We_ were wondering, if perhaps you'd like to be the baby's godparents."

Actually, Wanda and I hadn't discussed that at all, but I guessed that it wasn't that surprising. After all, she and Mel were like sisters. In fact, they were closer than any sisters I've ever seen, but I supposed that that was a side effect of sharing your most intimate thoughts and feelings with another person for almost a year.

Mel squealed and threw her arms around Wanda's neck, careful not to disturb the sleeping newborn. "I'll take that as a yes," Wanda laughed.

"We'd be honored," Jared confirmed.

"Does that mean I'm sort of like a goduncle?" someone asked as they entered the room.

"Jamie!" Wanda exclaimed as Mel released her, beaming the young boy. But he was more of a man these days, having just turned fifteen a couple months back. "Of course."

Everybody was all smiles, and it seemed like things were looking up. That was, of course, until some chilling words sounded from the entrance to the hospital.

"Knock, knock."


	3. Distracted

_Oh, God._

The page in front of me swam, the words running together.

_Focus, _I told myself, forcing the letters to return to their proper position. Not that it helped any. Under normal circumstances, this would be no problem, but every thought of mine was tinged with worry, fear.

How the hell was I supposed to remember the assassin of Lincoln when my friend could be in mortal danger at this very moment?

I'd woken that morning to find that Mel was missing, Jared sleeping peacefully, unaware that she was gone, that his arms were empty. I'd also noticed that Ian and Wanda were absent, and I'd quickly put two and two together.

The choking hands of dread had closed around my throat, had made it hard to breathe. Like a bullet out of a gun, I'd leapt to my feet, bolting so fast out of the room that it had felt like my feet weren't even touching the ground.

I had run to the hospital in record time, even though the passageway had seemed miles long. _Was I too late?_ was the question that had pulsed through me with every beat of my heart.

My pace had slowed as I heard screams, and I had cautiously peeked into the room, fearing the worst. Ian and Doc had blocked my view of Wanda, but I had immediately known what was going on.

Sinking to the floor, I had put my head between my knees, had let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. I had overreacted, there wasn't anything wrong. Just that the baby was coming.

But now, I wasn't so sure. I'd heard of all sorts of complications during childbirth, a thousand things could go awry. Even though I trusted Doc explicitly, I kept imagining horrible scenarios going on down in the south tunnel.

I pushed all those terrible thoughts from my head, forcing myself to concentrate on the first question of the quiz again. American History. I didn't even see the point – why did we need to learn about the Civil Rights Movement when we were fighting an even worse oppression? What possible purpose could knowledge about World War I serve when each day could be our last?

I had no idea what to put for it. I moved on to the next question. _Which General led the March to the Sea?_ I glanced over at Monica, whose pencil was scratching furiously across the page, her dark hair spilling over her right shoulder onto the table. With dismay, I realized that, while I had yet to put any answers down, she was almost done.

_General Sherman_, I scrawled under the second question.

"Five minutes," Sharon called to us, before turning back to her math lesson with Isaiah, Freedom, and Chance. Words like "variable" and "binomial" and "inequality" floated over to us.

Next question. _What was the first battle of the Civil War?_

_First Battle of Bull Run._

_What year was the Kansas-Nebraska Act?_

_1855._

_Which Amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery?_

_13th Amendment._

_What was the Trent Affair? _

_Confederacy tried to bring English and French into the war._

I heard Monica rub an answer out with her eraser, and then pencil in a new one.

"Alright, time's up!" Sharon said, snatching my half-filled out quiz out from under my hands, and Monica's completed one, which was lying facedown on her desk.

She placed them on her desk, then headed over to give Voice the same quiz, orally. Her full name was Voice Fills the Dark, but she preferred the shortened version. She was from the Singing World, where she had spent seven life terms, and, fittingly, her host here was also blind. But her host still had the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard.

I groaned, and dropped my head onto my arms, which were folded on the table.

"Hey, you okay?"

I looked over at Monica, and her blue-green eyes were in shadow as her eyebrows were pulled together in concentration as she doodled in her notebook. It was clear that she wasn't too worried about my answer. "Headache," I grunted, before closing my eyes again. She didn't say anything, and I opened one eye a sliver; Monica was still focused on whatever she was scribbling in the margins of her notes.

"Okay, lunch break," Sharon announced, apparently done quizzing Voice. "Be back in one hour." The boys abandoned their books in a rush of raucous laughter, and I could hear the yells echo as they ran down the hallway. Monica gathered her things and I watched out of the corner of my eye as she walked over and offered her arm to Voice.

Apparently the story is that Voice's host was Monica's best friend before the invasion, and the bond they shared refused to be broken even after the host's mind was erased. For this reason, when Voice had stumbled across Monica and her family in a forest near her summer cottage, she had immediately took them in and had hidden them from her peers. When they had heard rumors of our colony they had set off in search of us, and, miracle of all miracles, they had made it. Voice was still getting used to the layout of the caves, so Monica and I helped to guide her around.

"You coming, Jamie?" Voice asked, her musical lilt as calming as any therapeutic.

"Um, yeah," I said, leaving my stuff on the make-shift desk and following behind the two girls as they chattered, linked arm in arm.

It must've been obvious that I was distracted from their conversation. "Maybe you should see Doc about that headache," Monica suggested, jutting her chin towards the southern tunnel. Both of them had identical expressions of mild concern, but Voice's unseeing gaze was fixed at a point a few inches higher than my right shoulder. To be honest, it freaked me out a little.

"Yeah, okay," I replied, pretending reluctance, but in reality, I was jumping at the chance to check that everything was running smoothly in the hospital. I was able to contain myself, just barely, as I ambled toward the hallway. As soon as I was shrouded by darkness, however, my stride lengthened, and my pace increased.

The quiet in the passageway was absolute, and I worried that this was a sign that something was terribly wrong. But as I neared the entrance to the hospital, I could hear quiet voices, and none of them seemed particularly sad or angry.

The scene I walked in on was not the one I was expecting. Mel was talking with Wanda, and Ian was looking down at something in Wanda's arms, but I couldn't see his expression because his back was to me. Jared was also looking in the same direction, and he looked … well, happy. But there was also some wonder in his stare. Doc was busying himself, cleaning his equipment, but he was smiling down at his instruments.

Curious, I took a few steps to the right, and then everything made sense.

I was vaguely aware of their discussion, something about godparents. Normally, I would've been more preoccupied by their conversation, but that was because normally this amazing being wasn't taking up the majority of my attention.

The tiny baby was clearly Wanda's – her hair and complexion gave her the same ethereal beauty – but Ian could also be seen in some of her other features, her eyes in particular.

She was the most fascinating thing I had ever seen. She was an angel.

Mel's squeal snapped me out of my trance, and I was surprised none of them had noticed me yet. Jared and Ian, like me, must've only been paying attention in part to their exchange, captivated as I was by the sleeping child's charm. But as I refocused on their conversation, I realized that Mel and Jared had just been named her godmother and godfather.

"Does that mean I'm sort of like a goduncle?" I asked, and the adults saw me for the first time.

"Jamie!" Wanda cried, smiling widely at me. "Of course."

I moved forward so that I stood beside Ian, and then leaned over and brushed a finger lightly over the baby's warm cheek. I was about to tell Wanda congratulations, and that the baby was the most wonderful thing I'd ever seen, when I was interrupted.

"Knock, knock."

Wanda tensed up, clutching the infant closer to her chest, as Ian whirled around to see who had spoken. But that was wholly unnecessary because he, of all people, should've recognized the voice right away, for it was the exact copy of his own.

The baby, as if sensing her parents' distress, woke and immediately began to wail. Wanda stroked her head soothingly, rocking her slightly from side to side in an attempt to quiet her. But a crying baby was the least of her concerns.

"Kyle," Ian growled in a warning tone, and Jared was suddenly by my side, hands clenched in fists by his side. Doc and Mel had stood up as well, muscles tensed. I was ready to fight too, if that what was needed to protect Wanda and her daughter.

"Hey, now," Kyle said in a placating voice, holding his hands up to signal his good intentions. "Why can't an uncle see his ..." He craned his head around the three of us to try and see Wanda and the baby.

"Niece," Wanda squeaked, the fear racking her body evident in her voice. This was, after all, the man who had made an attempt on her life just a little over a year ago.

"Why can't an uncle see his niece?" he repeated, looking as if he wanted to take a step forward, but our expressions must've convinced him that such a move would be dangerous. "Oh, come on, Ian. I'm a changed man. I don't want to cause any trouble. I promise. Just let me see her. Please."

"Ian, stand aside. I believe him," Wanda pleaded; apparently, that had been as much as she could take.

"I wish I could be forgiving as you are, Wanda, but I'm not taking any chances when it comes to Madi," Ian replied, not taking his eyes off of his twin. So that was her name. I liked it - it was cute, but also sophisticated for when she was older.

"Madi?" Kyle asked, voice soft. "You named her after our sister?" He smiled, and it was then that I could see that he was telling the truth. Being with Sunny had sure made him reexamine his life, because it was clear that he truly wished no ill will toward Wanda.

"Ian, what's he gonna do? The two of us can take him if worst comes to worst, and I think you should give him a chance," Jared chimed in, and I saw Doc nod out of the corner of my eye.

Ian must've seen reason, or at least that he was fighting a losing battle, because he moved to the right a little bit to allow Kyle through, but still did not relax his stance.

Kyle shouldered his way past his brother, and as he moved further into the room, we could see Sunny cowering in his shadow, but when she saw Wanda, a wide grin broke across her face. A similarly huge smile was also on Kyle's face.

"Wanda! How are you?" he exclaimed, as Sunny squeezed her arm.

"Well, I've been better," she said with a weary smile, pushing her hair back from her face while still rocking Madi back and forth, but her efforts went to waste; the baby was still crying relentlessly.

_And you've been worse_, I added silently.

"Can I?" Kyle asked hesitantly, eyes on the newborn, hands extended slightly away from himself to indicate his intent.

Ian clamped a hand on his twin's shoulder, shaking his head no when Kyle glanced over to him at the touch, but Wanda, throwing caution to the wind, placed the upset infant into his large hands, which all but swallowed her.

He looked fondly down at the little thing that he could have easily crushed, but instead he cradled her close to his chest, as Sunny looked on with a similar look of affection. But it was more surprising that Kyle was so gentle, not the soul.

The baby's wailing intensified, her face red from screaming at the top of her little lungs. That was when Uncle Jeb decided to make his entrance.

"You'd think all hell was set loose," he remarked as he strode into the hospital. "You can hear that goldarn racket all through the caves. Quite a feat, mind you." But his voice was teasing, and the insult was obviously light-hearted.

A smile played on his lips as he caught sight of Kyle and Sunny fawning over the baby, and it budded into a full-blown grin as his eyes met Wanda's. "Well, if it isn't my little sunshine," he almost purred, walking over to the cot. Jeb certainly had a soft spot for Wanda, always had, and probably always will. He kissed her on the cheek in a fatherly way, and then straightened up.

"So, guess I'm finally a grandpa," he declared, throwing an arm around Ian, who was less hostile about the whole situation, and now actually quite amused. "More like an honorary great-uncle," Ian argued.

"Well, I guess that'll have to do, won't it?" Jeb replied, beaming at the entire crowd, finally laying eyes on me. "Oh, look who it is. Wouldn't have thought you to be one to play hooky."

Oh, shit. With all the drama I had forgotten to go back to school; the lunch hour was obviously over by now. Sure, Sharon had become less of a dinosaur these days, after getting back together with Doc, but that didn't mean that she didn't still bite.

Jeb laughed. "Don't worry, kid. You got a good excuse. But now it's time for you to get your heiney over to the southeastern tunnel." One blue eye winked.

Well, great - on rubble duty once again. We'd been expanding the cave system recently, and right now we working on a branch off of the southern tunnel. It already had around three rooms. We were carving out a fourth at this very moment, probably.

"Well, see ya, Wanda. Bye, everybody." I sauntered out of the room, obviously not in any hurry. As I rounded the corner, I almost smacked right into Lily, who was with Trudy. Geez, was _everyone_ going to visit Wanda? I apologized quickly, then continued on my way, eventually coming to the place where the two tunnels met. I could hear the sound of grunting and the clink of tools as rock was being chipped away. As I got closer, I could see that dust filled the air, and that what would soon become a cave was only a large indentation in the wall. Aaron, Brandt, Andy, and Ben were hard at work with sledgehammers and chisels. Strewn about their feet were jagged pieces of rock, which myself and some other lucky individual would have to painstakingly pick up. Just then I caught sight of my partner, who was leaning against a wheelbarrow, her gaze distant and not at all focused on the shirtless men in front of her.

"Hey, Monica," I greeted her, speaking loudly so she could hear me over the din. I sidled up to her and copied her stance, shoving my hands in my pockets.

"Oh, hi, Jamie," she replied, glancing over at me. "So, how's that headache?"

I laughed. "Better, but I'm sure with all this noise it's gonna come speeding back." She nodded sympathetically. "So, what'd I miss?"

"While you were mysteriously missing?" she asked for clarification, but continued anyway. "Well, Sharon handed back our quizzes, and then gave the boys some spelling words to study, while she gave us a lesson about earth science. Weather systems, you know."

I was about to respond, when Voice showed up, carting some water jugs. The men instantly put away their tools, gathering around her as she handed out the water, striking up a conversation with Ben, whose ebony skin was gleaming with sweat.

That was our signal to start working. Monica and I moved forward, gathering up the chunks of stone until our arms were full, and then dumping them in the wheelbarrow. This process was repeated, taking maybe twenty minutes in all, until the floor was all but clear and the wheelbarrow was full to the brim. The four men went back to their work glumly, and all we had left to do was haul the rubble to the river and dispose of it in its hot current. That was easier said than done.

Monica struggled to lift up the handles of the wheelbarrow, but no matter how hard she tried she did not succeed. "Here, let me give it a shot," I offered. She was all too willing to move aside. I pulled up on the wooden handles, and was just barely able to heft the metal bottom of the wheelbarrow from the ground, and my muscles ached with the effort. I lurched forward, attempting to force the cart forward, but it refused to budge.

"I have an idea," Monica said. "Why don't we each take a handle, and maybe the two of us together can manage it?" I shrugged, nonverbally conveying that it was worth a try. I switched my right hand to the left handle, and she placed both of hers on the right. "Ready, one, two, _three_." And she was right – it weight lifted off the floor, and we were just able to push it over the uneven ground.

We made it to the main cavern before we had no choice but to set it down, both of us short for breath. I certainly wasn't looking forward to the next few hours of doing this. I glanced over at her to find that she was pulling her hair back into a ponytail with a band that had been around her wrist. Rivulets of sweat ran down her neck, and I felt equally as sticky.

She must've sensed my eyes on her back, because she turned around, arching an eyebrow. "What?"

"Oh, I've just never seen your hair up," I answered, quickly looking away so that she wouldn't see the heat rising in my already flushed face. I gripped the left handle again and she did the same with the right.

"Well, now your life is complete," she joked, and together we hoisted the wheelbarrow off the ground again. We trundled it around the large field, and the other people gave us a wide berth. I spotted Mel and Jared, their arms around each other's waist, turning down the hallway towards their room. I preferred not to know.

We hooked a left and continued down the dark hallway, the occasional rock clattering to the floor if we didn't hold the wheelbarrow completely level. It was dark, but we were used to that, having been up and down each passageway enough times that even the smallest patch of sunlight wasn't necessary. Eventually we came to the bathroom, maneuvering the wheelbarrow over to the lip of the river, which had been reinforced following Wanda's "accident". I wiped off my face with the bottom of my T-shirt once the wheelbarrow was secure, not welcoming the hot air washing over my face from the current far below.

"Ready?" I asked Monica. She nodded, and together we managed to tip the rocks over the edge, hearing the cacophony of their splashing as they entered the river. As the wheelbarrow touched ground again, I saw Monica bend down to tie her shoe. Something swung off her chest and glinted in the blue lamplight. A necklace.

When she stood up again, I took a step towards her. "Can I?" I asked, gesturing towards the gold chain. She picked up the pendant, and offered it to me, pulling the chain taut. I took another step closer to her, so close I could smell … cherry blossoms? I grasped the necklace, examining the gold ring on it, with what looked like a good-sized diamond on the band.

"It was my mother's," she explained, her breath tickling my bangs. I looked up, the question plain in my eyes. Monica swallowed, then went on, "She died, maybe a year before the invasion. Breast cancer."

"I'm so sorry," I murmured, releasing the necklace. It bounced off her chest before she grabbed it and stared at the engagement ring.

"I miss her every day. Without her, I feel so … lost, so alone." The pain in her voice was so very apparent, and I could sense the waterworks coming.

I wrapped my arms around her, feeling tears spill over onto my shoulder. "Shh, it's alright," I whispered into her ear, and I felt her tentatively hug me back. "We've all lost somebody. My mom, my dad – they're gone too. I even thought my sister was for a while." It was not much of a comfort, I knew, but what else could I say?

She pulled away, eyes glistening. "It's not the same," she argued, wiping her eyes. "At least you know that they're out there somewhere, maybe even happy. But my mom, she'll never come back."

"You don't understand – that's not them, it's some alien whose taken over their body, erased their mind. All that love, all that we had, it died with their spirit."

Lily walked in then, a basket of laundry under her right arm. "Hey, don't you guys have somewhere to be?" she asked, eyes flashing mischievously.

"Right you are," I replied, ignoring the teasing tone of her voice. It wasn't anything like that – Monica and I were just friends. I pushed the wheelbarrow out of the bathroom, the task much easier without the load of stone, and back to the southeastern tunnel, Monica walking silently beside me.

The rest of the afternoon passed like that, neither of us talking to each other, but the quiet was not hostile, but rather companionable. Eventually we broke for dinner, a meal of mashed potatoes, canned peas, and some beef jerky. I ate with Kyle, Sunny, Mel, Jared, and a couple of other people, but it felt strange without Ian and Wanda there.

Afterwards I went to visit them in the hospital to find all three passed out on the cots, so I swung by my room and picked up a change of clothes before heading over to the bathroom to take a shower. I felt absolutely filthy after a couple hours of hauling rocks. As I walked into the dark room, I passed Monica, whose hair was dripping wet and the aroma of cherry blossoms was even more strong.

"Good night, Jamie," she said softly, her smile reaching her eyes for once.

"Good night," I said in return, watching her disappear into the swath of black. And even though rubble duty was only second to making soap in my book of worst chores, I found myself hoping I would be assigned to it tomorrow.


	4. Betrayed

His arms were wrapped around my waist, but instead of it being a loving embrace, he was restraining me, sensing that I was going to act on my anxiety at any moment.

"Jared," I pleaded, carefully keeping the whine out of my voice. "Something's wrong. They've never been back this late. Maybe one of them is hurt. Maybe they got captured. Maybe they're even …"

I couldn't bear that possibility. Even if they were taken prisoner by the souls, I had faith that Kyle would do whatever it took to get them out alive. That even if one of Wanda's kind was placed into them, their essence would still remain, and that we could free them from those bonds. But still, even the best made mistakes sometimes. The only people who I trusted Jamie with was Jared, and of course, me.

I struggled against his hold, but I couldn't break free, no matter how hard I squirmed. "Mel, it's only been an hour. There are plenty of things that could be holding them up," Jared tried to reassure me.

"Name one," I challenged him, the words like ice. I twisted in his arms so I could glare at him. He opened his mouth, but then I heard footsteps approaching us from the tail of the Y-shaped tunnel. I turned swiftly around, and threw myself against the circle of Jared's arms, and, to my surprise, he let me go.

I launched myself at the startled Jamie just as he stepped into a patch of light, flinging my arms around him, squeezing him so tightly I could feel his ribs underneath his T-shirt. He chuckled, patting my back to return the sentiment. "I missed you too."

"You need some more meat on your bones. It's like we don't feed you," I teased, knowing full well that he ate Wanda helpings at every single meal. "What took you guys so long?" I asked as I pulled away.

Jamie grinned. "Well, we had to take a little detour." He stepped aside, and I saw a young woman looking around in wonder at the caves, a small child clinging to her back, watching me with curious eyes. Kyle squeezed past the two, catching Sunny in his arms as she jumped into them, and they kissed passionately, obviously glad to be reunited.

I took two long strides toward the woman, extending a hand. "Welcome. I'm Melanie, but you can call me Mel." I grinned, and she shook my hand, smiling tentatively, but obviously overwhelmed. She was pretty, with chin-length sandy brown hair, and dark green eyes.

"I'm Aurora," she replied, "and this is Ethan." The boy looked up at his name, I could easily tell that he was her son – he had the same eyes, the same face, only his hair was blonder than hers.

I looked back at Jared, still smiling. It always made me so happy when there were newcomers. I mean, sure, we had to squeeze to make room for them, but it made everything seem a little less hopeless. Jared usually shared in my joy, but he was staring, open-mouthed, at the woman. "Jared, are you okay?" I asked, my smile draining from my face.

Aurora seemed to notice him for the first time, and she started. "Jared?" she all but whispered.

"Rori?" he whispered back, finding his voice at last. "Is it really you?"

"You two know each other?" I asked before she could answer, a little suspicious as to how. I felt a familiar feeling stir inside me, but I refused to believe that I was jealous of the woman.

Jared snapped out of it at the question, his eyes meeting mine for the first time. "Yes, we're … old friends." My eyes narrowed at the hesitation, and I could see that Aurora looked a little uneasy in my peripheral vision, but I tried to attribute that to her being unaccustomed to human contact.

"Well, that's wonderful," I replied, but I doubted that I sounded sincere. "Come on, Jared, we have to weed the garden." I started to tug the reluctant man towards the main cavern, but then I stopped dead in my tracks.

In the quiet of the tunnel, I had heard Ethan whisper to Aurora, "Momma, is that _the_ Jared?" She shushed him, but it was too late.

"What do you mean, _the_ Jared?" I demanded as I spun around, directing the question more at the mother than at the son. But while Aurora glanced anxiously at Jared, it was the small boy that answered me.

"My daddy is named Jared," he replied, and I swear my heart stopped beating. He didn't notice. "Momma said that one day we would find him, because he was too smart to be one of the silver-eyes."

"_You have a son?_" I screeched as I rounded on Jared, unable to contain the raging fury that boiled in my blood. "_A son?_"

His jaw was hanging open once again, but he quickly snapped it shut as the waves of my hostility washed over him. "Mel, I didn't know," he defended himself, like that was a good excuse. He backed away as I stalked forward, hands up and bewildered. "I didn't know, Mel!"

I didn't care. I was going to kill him, choke the life out of him with my bare hands. _How could he? How DARE he?_

But then, under all the anger, under all the disbelief, was a raw wound, stinging with each beat of my heart. The hurt was unbelievable, the agony of his betrayal felt as real as a bullet through my chest. Hot tears sprang up in my eyes, and I didn't even bother to wipe them away as they spilled onto my cheeks. All I wanted to get out of there, to escape from the pain that threatened to engulf me. It was so unlike me to run away from my problems, it made me wonder if Wanda's year-long presence had lent me a little of her tendency to do that. I clenched a fist as if to strike him, but then turned on my heel and fled, not even noticing that everyone had made themselves scarce.

He didn't even try to pursue me, and I hated how disappointed that made me feel. How could I still love him so completely, when he was entirely undeserving? When he preferred another? When he had stabbed me in the back like that?

It made no sense.

I took turns without thinking, glad that this early in the morning few people were traveling the hallways because I was stumbling blindly about, and I didn't want anyone seeing me in this state.

Somehow I ended up back in the room Jared and I shared, and I sank onto the mattress, allowing the sobs to overtake me. I curled around his pillow, drinking in his precious scent. I despised how it made me long for him, how empty I felt knowing that I had only been a stand-in, a sorry substitute for the woman he really loved, cared about enough to have a child with. He'd never wanted that with me. The loss of our unborn children made me weep even harder until his pillow was soaked with salt water.

I stopped when I heard footsteps echo down the passageway, and I wondered who it would be - Jeb, with his tough-love and his good sense? Jamie with his hopeless optimism and innocence? Or Wanda with her empathy and comfort? All I hoped was that it was that it wasn't _him_. I didn't want his excuses, his temptation, his apologies.

Whoever it was tapped the green screen lightly, and I lifted my head but didn't respond. Maybe if they thought I wasn't there, they would go away. Or maybe they would just respect my privacy anyway and leave me in peace.

But of course they didn't. I heard them pull the screen gently to the side, and then I saw her blurry form enter and close it behind her.

"Go away," I muttered, dropping my head back onto his pillow. It was of no use.

I felt her sit down on the edge of the mattress, a huge sigh escaping her. "I heard what happened," she whispered.

"Then you know why I want to be alone," I grumbled.

"No, then I know that you need to talk about it."

I rolled over, and still clutching his pillow, sat up to face Wanda. "There's nothing to talk about. I was a fool to ever believe that he loved me. He loves her, and she loves him, okay? I'm going to spend the rest of my life a miserable mess. End of story."

"I don't believe you," she said, sounding incredulous. "Who are you, and what have you done with Mel? Cause the Mel I know never gave up. Ever."

And then, to my surprise, I broke down again.

"Hey, it's going to be alright," she said softly, scooting closer and wrapping her arms around me, rocking me slowly back and forth as I bawled on her shoulder. Which was completely absurd, seeing as she was much smaller than me. "I know how you feel, Mel, when you're second best. Remember when Jared kissed us?" And I did. While I had been experiencing raging jealousy, she had been writhing in her own pain, knowing that it was me that he had been thinking about, not her. Now I wondered if whenever he kissed me, it was Aurora that he thought about, not me. The thought was almost to much to bear.

"I remember," I whispered, my crying under control for the moment. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," she replied, releasing me. "I have Ian and Madi now. The question is, what are you going to do about this Aurora?"

"What can I do? They go way back. I … I have nothing on her." I hugged the pillow close to me, trying not to picture the two of them together, and utterly failing,

"Not true," Wanda countered. "For all we know, he has no feelings whatsoever for her, and he is still hopelessly in love with you."

"Yeah, but on the other hand, I could be on the sidelines watching their happy little family from afar."

"But you'll never know until you get your sorry ass up and go talk to him." She stood up moved towards the door.

That made me chuckle, and I knew that sharing a body had effected the both of us, because the timid soul I once knew would not have stood up to me like that, would not have told me what I needed to hear.

"Wanda, I can't do it, even if I want to. I'm not ready to face him again. I couldn't handle that. I know I can't."

She paused just as she reached the green screen, and then looked over her shoulder at me. "The way I see it, you don't much of a choice if you want to be with him." Then she grasped the edge of the makeshift door, tugged it over far enough so that she could slip through, then pulled it shut.

Left alone with my thoughts once more, I listened to her retreating footsteps. She was right. This wasn't me, this afraid little girl cowering in a corner, letting other people make the big decisions for her. Me was the proud woman that walked with her head up high, that didn't let anyone tell her what to do. Me would march right in there, ask Jared all the tough questions, and take no prisoners.

I wiped my eyes and nose on my sleeve, then set the pillow aside. I took a deep breath, and then pushed myself up into a standing position. I faced what I was about to do with about the same trepidation as Wanda had her deathbed. How was _that_ possible?

I left the room, aware of everyone's gaze as I made my way towards where I thought Jared would be – either the garden or the kitchen. Obviously the whole caves had heard of our blowout by now. But he was in neither room, and with a huge weight in my belly I turned down the southern tunnel, praying that I would not find him there.

But as I passed the branch that led to half a dozen other living spaces, I heard footsteps rapidly approaching, the labored breathing of someone as they ran towards me. I squinted into the darkness, taking a step into the offshoot, and recognized Monica just as she called my name, taken aback when I saw a red handprint on her tan cheek.

"Mel!" she cried, coming to a stop in front of me. "Jamie's hurt. Owen just – "

But I didn't listen to what else she had to say. Those two words alone were enough to spur me into motion, as I dashed past her, yelling over my shoulder for her to get help.

I paused just a second as I ran through the doorway to assess the situation, and what I saw was not very hopeful. Owen – a new arrival from Nate's clan – was thrashing about with Jamie on his back, trying to shake his hold. I saw that Jamie, despite blood streaming from his nose, was choking him, and I was proud of the fight he was putting up.

Just then, Owen rammed Jamie into the cave wall, which made him loosen his grip on his neck, and Jamie slumped to the floor. I saw Owen raise a fist as if to strike the vulnerable boy, and that's when I made my move. "Hold it right there!"

As he turned, I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and I didn't hesitate as I landed a punch right on his jaw. Owen stumbled backward, holding his face, and tripped over Jamie's sprawled-out legs. He hit the ground hard, but managed to get back to his feet faster than I thought he could. Indeed, he would have been quite a challenge for me with his superior strength, but he was intoxicated, and I was much more motivated.

Still clutching his jaw, he assessed me for a moment – taking in my angry stance, hands balled up into fists at my sides. Obviously he was not going to make the same mistake and underestimate me again. Eyes still on me, he reached into his pocket, and flicked open a switchblade. _Now_ the fight was a little more even.

Owen lunged forward with the knife, but I neatly dodged the thrust. As I leapt out of the way I grabbed his right arm with my right, and delivered a particularly painful jab to his ribs with my left elbow. Then I twisted his arms behind him, forcing him to drop the blade. He yelled out in pain, and I released him, hoping that he had learned his lesson, and would leave me well enough alone.

I was wrong. As soon as he was free, he spun around and he landed an uppercut on my chin, lifting me off my feet, and causing my head to smack rock. Seeing stars, I collapsed onto the hard ground, feeling the blunt handle of the knife under my stomach. I struggled to stand back up, but I was much too dizzy. All I could see through my narrowing vision was that Jamie was lying beside me, unconscious.

That and Owen's impossibly tall figure standing over us. I hugged Jamie close to me so that he would have me as a shield, and then braced for a finishing blow.

But surprisingly, none came. I heard only the sound of fist striking flesh and a moan of pain before someone crumpled to the floor with a loud thud.

Filled with gratitude, I looked up to see who our savior was. I felt my stomach drop and my heart jump into my throat as my eyes met a searching sienna gaze.


End file.
